Breaking the circle of silence about Anfal women
- towards building a national archive for Anfal
Chomanhardi.com
The term ‘Anfal’ which means ‘spoils of war’ is the name of the eighth chapter of the Qura’an which came to the prophet in the wake of his first jihad against the non-believers. The Iraqi government used this word to refer to a series of military operations which targeted Kurdish Muslims in the north of Iraq from February to September 1988. By using this word the government intended to mobilise support from within the country and to legitimise the operations in the Muslim world, portraying the Kurds as non-Muslims. Anfal took place in eight stages, targeting six geographically identified areas (see map below). In this process over 2600 Kurdish villages were destroyed and an estimated number of 100,000 civilians ended up in mass graves. Many more died as a result of bombardment, gas attacks, exodus to Iran and Turkey and life in the camps (Topzawa, Dibis, Nugra Salman, Nizarka, Salamya).
At the beginning of each Anfal stage chemical attacks were used to kill, terrify and destroy the morale of the people. After the air raids and alongside conventional bombing the ground attacks started. The attacks were designed to steer civilians towards certain collection points near main roads where they were awaited by the army and the jash forces (Kurdish mercenaries who worked for the Iraqi government). The civilians were then taken in coaster busses, trucks and military vehicles (IFA trucks) towards the forts and army camps which acted as assembling and processing centres (Suleimanya Emergency Forces (Tawari), Chemchemal Brigade Headquarters (Liwa), Qoratu Fort, Tuz Khurmatu Youth Centre, Aliawa jash headquarters, Laylan Animal Pen, Taqtaq Military Garrison and Fort, Harmouta Army camp, Qadir Karam Elementary School and Police Station) and then to the temporary holding centres (Topzawa Popular Army Camp (Anfals 1-7) and Qala’t Dohok (Anfal 8)). They were then divided into three main groups: the men and teenage boys, the women and their children, and the elderly. The women were transferred to Dibis prison (in the Soran region, Anfals 1-7) and Salamiya near Mousel (in the Badinan region 8th Anfal). The elderly were taken to Nugra Salman on the border of Saudi Arabia. The men were stripped down to their vests and sharwal (Kurdish baggy trousers). Their hands were tied behind them and they were blindfolded and taken to the mass graves. Most of the men were executed within days of their capture but some are reported to have been alive a few years after Anfal. After the September 1988 General Amnesty large parts of Iraqi Kurdistan remained ‘prohibited for security reasons’ and the surviving inhabitants (mostly women, children and the elderly) were forcibly relocated to housing complexes near the main cities. The survivors were left to fend for themselves without support or compensation. They were not entitled to food coupons and their children were not allowed to go to school because they were not considered Iraqi citizens.
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October 11, 2008
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